Interview with Author RaeAnne Thayne

 RaeAnne Thayne
Northern Utah

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains where she lives with her family. Her books have won numerous honors, including four RITA Award nominations from Romance Writers of America and a Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews magazine. RaeAnne loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.

Good morning, RaeAnne, and welcome to Vision and Verse.  I am a big fan.  I love your books and I love your covers.  Can you tell our readers what have you written? 
I’ve written more than 47 books for Bantam Loveswept, Silhouette, Harlequin and HQN. My current series is Hope’s Crossing, a warm small-town series set in a fictional Colorado ski town. Coming up in November will be the start of a spinoff series, Haven Point.

What is your favorite genre to write?

Contemporary romance, especially stories set in small towns. I have been a voracious romance reader since I was eleven and love reading (and writing!) happy endings.

Favorite food.
Anything out of the sea. Salmon, halibut and grilled shrimp are my favorite.

Tea or coffee?
Neither, actually J I mostly stick to water. Boring, I know.

No, not boring.  Healthy.  Congratulations.  Pizza or ice cream? 
Pizza, especially my homemade pizza with artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes cooked on a pizza stone.

Where would you like to visit? 
Every country in Europe. I’ve only been to Italy, England and Spain, so have a few spots still on my list!

Italy is gorgeous.  I love Italy.  Favorite musical artist? 
Too many to count. I have very eclectic tastes, depending on my mood at the time.

Do you listen to music when you write? 
Always. 

What? 
Jazz, especially tasty (not too acidic) instrumental jazz. Bill Evans, Chet Baker, etc.

What makes you laugh?
My husband. Always. I was first attracted to his sense of humor and twenty-eight years later, he can still make me laugh, even in the most stressful of moments.

That's the sign of a good husband. Favorite work of art.
Ooh, again, too many to count. I love Impressionist art and especially Monet’s many garden masterpieces. My sisters and I recently went to New York City and visited the Met. I could have spent the entire day in the Impressionists wing.

How old were you when you started writing? Non-fiction, I was in high school when I started writing for the school newspaper but I didn’t start writing fiction seriously until I was twenty-four and already had a degree in journalism and worked for the local daily newspaper as a reporter. I worked for many years as a newspaper reporter and editor before selling my first book in 1995.

Describe your perfect evening.
Taking a walk with my family in the mountains at dusk as the shadows are long and the colors are rich, then coming home and becoming lost in a fantastic book.

Where do you get your inspiration? 
Where don’t I get inspiration? Magazine articles, talking to friends, television, museums, walking in the mountains, listening to my children play, seeing an elderly couple struggle hand in hand together through the grocery store. Life is my inspiration.

What do you do when you get a writer's block?
Writer’s block to me usually means a scene isn’t working right. I give myself permission to do something else for an hour – read a book that moves me, listen to favorite music, take a walk or write something else – but then I force myself to sit back down and figure out where the story has gone off the rails.

Who is your favorite author? 
JK Rowling. Second to that would probably be a tie among a dozen or so others, including Mary Balogh, Carla Kelly, Georgette Heyer, Kristan Higgins and more.

Best book you ever read. I can’t pin this down to one. I’m sorry! I have certain books I re-read every few years because they move me every single time.

Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why? I have three amazing children but I would have to say my middle son has influenced me most. He is seventeen now and was born with severe disabilities (cerebral palsy, global developmental delays). I am his primary caregiver and every decision in our lives the last seventeen years – from where we live to the car we drive to our vacation destinations – has centered around the challenges (and privileges!) of caring for him. I am a much different (better!) person than I would have been without him in our lives.

What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer?

Writing is hard, physically painful, mentally exhausting – but it is also an incredible, magical joy. The ability to create characters and stories out of nothing but my own imagination still seems like a miraculous gift to me. I try to cherish that gift, even when the going is tough. If you dream of being a writer, do it, no matter how difficult you find it. As others have said far more eloquently than I can, on your deathbed you will never regret having tried to write. If you let your fears or sense of inadequacy hold you back, however, you will always wonder what you might have achieved.

Do you have any links for us to follow you?
http://www.amazon.com/RaeAnne-Thayne/e/B001H6NZ9E
https://www.facebook.com/raeannethayne
http://www.raeannethayne.com